Wirtz on labor accord, upcoming season

'Players and owners are united to grow league … for another 10 years'

Rocky Wirtz celebrates with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Flyers in Game Six in 20101. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Photo)

The NHL lockout is finally — and mercifully — over.

The league and NHLPA made it official Saturday when they dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's on the paperwork to set the 2013 season into motion.

Earlier in the day the union announced that players had voted to ratify the collective bargaining agreement after the sides reached a deal last Sunday. Now it's a mad dash to and through a 48-game season that will begin Jan. 19. The Blackhawks will face the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings in Los Angeles that day to kick off the season.

In an interview with the Tribune on Saturday, Hawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz — a member of the NHL Board of Governors' executive committee — discussed the lockout.

Now that the lockout is over, your thoughts?

The important thing is that the players and the owners are united to grow the league. We're truly joined at the hip to grow the sport and not look back for another 10 years.

How can you win back angry fans?

For corporate sponsors, for fans with and without season tickets, to the media, to everyone, we want to be totally accessible and transparent and do everything we can to do accommodate everything they want.

There are obviously going to be some people — some fans — who are going to have some ill feelings but I think the end result is if we do our job to give fans great entertainment and to win people will see we're continually striving to do better.

Is it true the Hawks added names on the season ticket waiting list during the lockout?

We've been very, very fortunate. We have gained since the lockout. I've had calls from people who want to add their names and not one call saying I want my name off the list.

Do you believe your relationship with players such as Jonathan Toews, who was very vocal during the lockout, will be strained?

Collective bargaining is a process. Some of the players don't always understand the process and how it works. I respect the players' position and what they had to do and hopefully the players respect the owners' side. To have a successful collective bargaining agreement, both sides have to give something. As long as we can do that and move the game or the business ahead everyone is in a win-win. In the short term it might be awkward but I don't see any different feelings about players.

How involved were you in negotiations?

I was in contact with (Commissioner) Gary Bettman and I was very much supportive. The players were united and so were the owners. You just have to let the process work and not micro-manage or meddle in it. The end result is that it worked out fine for both sides. In the short term it could be a very bad thing but it's really a process you have to go through. You can't speed it up because you have to have both sides on the same page.

How much damage was done to the sport?

At the end of the day we'll be ahead. It seems funny to say that, but I think we'll be ahead because we now have the framework for labor peace for 10 years and we can now grow this game. There are short-term problems, but long term, it's the greatest sport there is and we just have to expose it to more people.

Was the league prepared to cancel the season?

I was making sure that we had the cash funds to fill the needs of the Blackhawks because I was assuming from a business standpoint that we weren't going to play.

You have said the Blackhawks aren't making money, why is that and how much in the red is the team?

We're not where we want to be. Don't forget that the top 10 teams, whatever they make goes into a pool to give to the bottom 10 teams. We want to make sure we have a very strong league. What we want to do is have all 30 teams make money. The Hawks will get there. We're not there yet but we'll get there in the next few years.

Other NHL teams had layoffs or reductions in pay for staffers during the lockout. Why didn't the Hawks?

It was simple: We wanted to hit the ground running. This too was going to pass. We didn't want to take any of John (McDonough's) and Jay (Blunk's) resources away from them and I thought it was very important to fund the staff. It took 51/2 years to build the staff to where it is today and the last thing we wanted to do was cut anyone's salary or lay anyone off. We just took the position that we weren't going to do that."

Thoughts on Bettman?

Gary did exactly what the owners said. I read a lot of stuff demonizing him, the same way some people demonized Donald Fehr and his organization. Donald did a terrific job for the players and I think Gary Bettman did a terrific job for the owners. At the end of the day, we have a collective bargaining agreement that we can both live with and grow our sport.

Thoughts on Fehr?

He represented his players very well. He's a very smart man. He's a very good labor leader and I give him all the credit in the world.

Who won the lockout?

I don't think anyone won it. The thing is, everyone together has to move this game ahead. There are no winners or losers on this one.

Can the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup?

I think it's going to be a sprint to the finish line. A lot depends on everyone's health. The players are well-positioned and with the great leadership we have on the team we are in good position to move further. I guarantee what we want to do is get out of the first round of the playoffs, which we haven't done the last few years.

Anything you want to say to the fans?

I'd just like to thank them very much for their patience. Our job is to give them the greatest entertainment sports in Chicago and we're going to do our darnedest to move ahead and not to rest on any laurels and not to take anything for granted.